猫哥日记 ⑤

“当你脑袋里只想着赚钱的时候，那你注定赚不了什么钱。”

这句话，来自 迈克·马库拉（Mike Markkula）。
它是苹果公司成立初期，马库拉对乔布斯说的一句话，也成为了深刻影响乔布斯一生的商业信条。

1️⃣ 迈克·马库拉：苹果真正的“启蒙者”

迈克·马库拉，是苹果公司的第三位员工，也是苹果历史上第一位重要的风险投资人。

乔布斯本人曾多次公开承认，马库拉对他世界观、商业观的塑造，起到了决定性作用。

在苹果成立初期，马库拉就对乔布斯说过一句非常重要的话：

“你永远不该为了赚钱而创立公司。你的目标，应该是做出你坚信的伟大产品，并建立一家能够基业长青的公司。”

在马库拉看来——

利润，从来不该是目的，而应当是“制造出伟大产品”之后的自然结果。

他反复告诫乔布斯：

如果一家企业只盯着钱，就一定会在产品上偷工减料；
而一旦开始在产品上妥协，失败几乎只是时间问题。

2️⃣ 乔布斯的个人感悟

虽然马库拉为乔布斯搭建了清晰的商业认知框架，但乔布斯本人在 25 岁时，就已经身价过亿。

在此之后，他对“金钱”这件事，有了更深刻、也更冷静的反思。

不被金钱腐蚀

乔布斯发现，身边很多原本极其聪明的人，在赚到钱之后，开始沉迷奢靡生活，逐渐失去了对产品、对创造本身的热情。

而一旦停止追求极致，能力和野心也会同步退化。

改变世界的真正动力

乔布斯曾直言：

“我从来没为钱发愁过。我之所以这样做，是因为我真的想改变这个世界。”

这种“非金钱驱动”的理念，在他回归苹果后体现得尤为明显。

为了挽救濒临破产的苹果，他多年只领取 1 美元年薪，把全部精力都投入到产品重塑中。

“利润是结果，而非目的”

乔布斯反复强调：

“我的目标从来不是为了赚钱，而是为了制造伟大的产品。”

他认为，真正伟大的公司，是能够洞察用户甚至还没意识到的需求，并提供极致体验的。

如果企业只盯着财报，就一定会为了短期收益牺牲长期价值，最终失去用户、失去未来。

专注与激情（Passion）

乔布斯非常清楚，创业本身是一条极其艰难的路。

如果只是为了赚钱，大多数人在遇到真正的低谷时，都会选择放弃。

只有那些真正热爱产品、希望通过创造改变世界的人，
才有足够的韧性，熬过最艰难的阶段，最终迎来商业上的成功。

对平庸的零容忍

“只想着赚钱”，往往会让企业选择最稳妥、成本最低、但也最平庸的路径。

而乔布斯追求的，是 “Insanely Great（极致伟大）”。

他甚至坚持：
哪怕是用户看不见的电脑内部，也要布线整齐、结构优雅。

这种近乎偏执的美学追求，短期内确实增加了成本，却为苹果建立了无可替代的品牌护城河。

3️⃣ 反面教材：百事高管时期的苹果

在乔布斯被逐出苹果的那段时间，公司由一批营销背景出身的高管掌舵。

乔布斯后来回顾那段历史时直言：

当时的管理层，只关心如何榨取利润，却停止了真正的产品创新。

这条路，几乎把苹果带向了破产。

因此，他回归后的第一件事，就是——

砍掉平庸的产品线，重新找回“改变世界”的初心。

正如他在《史蒂夫·乔布斯传》中所说：

“如果你把眼光盯着利润，你就会在产品上偷工减料；
但如果你专注于制造伟大的产品，利润自然会随之而来。”

猫哥觉得这句:
“当你脑袋里只想着赚钱的时候，

那你注定赚不了什么钱。”

值得我们借鉴，并且适用于不论是做产品，还是做人做事，也适用于在币圈的大家

并且我们应该时不时的审视自己，我们当下所做的事，初衷是什么？

小伙伴们觉得呢？

Bro Cat’s Diary ⑤

“When all you think about is making money,
you’re actually destined to make very little of it.”

This quote comes from Mike Markkula.
It was something he said to Steve Jobs in the early days of Apple, and it went on to become a core principle that influenced Jobs for his entire life.

1️⃣ Mike Markkula: Apple’s True “Enlightener”

Mike Markkula was Apple’s third employee and its first truly significant venture investor.

Steve Jobs publicly acknowledged many times that Markkula played a decisive role in shaping his worldview and business philosophy.

In Apple’s earliest days, Markkula once said something extremely important to Jobs:

“You should never start a company just to make money.
Your goal should be to build something you genuinely believe in,

and to create a company that can last.”

In Markkula’s view—

Profit should never be the goal.
It should be the natural result of building great products.

He repeatedly warned Jobs:

If a company focuses only on money, it will inevitably cut corners in its products.

And once compromises begin, failure is only a matter of time.

2️⃣ Steve Jobs’ Personal Reflections

Although Markkula provided the theoretical framework, Steve Jobs himself became a billionaire by the age of 25.

After that, he developed a deeper—and far more sober—understanding of money.

Not Being Corrupted by Wealth

Jobs observed that many extremely smart people, once they became wealthy, fell into luxurious lifestyles and gradually lost their passion for products and creation itself.

And once the pursuit of excellence stops, both ambition and capability begin to decline.

The Real Motivation: Changing the World
Jobs once said plainly:

“I’ve never worried about money.
The reason I do this is because I truly want to change the world.”

This “non–money-driven” mindset became especially clear after his return to Apple.

To save the company from near bankruptcy, Jobs paid himself a $1 annual salary for years and devoted all his energy to rebuilding Apple’s products.

“Profit Is the Result, Not the Purpose”

Jobs repeatedly emphasized:

“My goal has never been to make money.
It has always been to make great products.”

He believed that truly great companies are able to identify user needs—even those users haven’t yet realized themselves—and deliver an exceptional experience.

If a company focuses only on financial reports, it will sacrifice long-term value for short-term gains, and eventually lose both its users and its future.

Focus and Passion

Jobs understood clearly that entrepreneurship is an extremely difficult journey.

If money is the only motivation, most people will give up when real hardship arrives.

Only those who genuinely love their products and want to change lives through creation

have the resilience to endure the lowest moments—and ultimately achieve commercial success.

Zero Tolerance for Mediocrity

“Only thinking about money” often pushes companies toward the safest, cheapest—and most mediocre—path.

But what Jobs pursued was “Insanely Great.”

He even insisted that parts of a computer users would never see

should still have perfectly organized wiring and elegant internal structure.

This near-obsessive pursuit of aesthetics increased costs in the short term,

but ultimately built Apple an irreplaceable brand moat.

3️⃣ A Negative Example: Apple Under Pepsi Executives

During the period when Jobs was forced out of Apple, the company was run by executives with marketing backgrounds.

Looking back, Jobs said bluntly:

The leadership at that time cared only about extracting profit,

and had stopped real product innovation altogether.

That path nearly drove Apple into bankruptcy.

So when Jobs returned, the very first thing he did was—
Cut away mediocre product lines

and rediscover Apple’s original mission: to change the world.

As he said in Steve Jobs:

“If you focus on profits, you start cutting corners in your products.

But if you focus on making great products, the profits will follow.”

Bro Cat’s Take

Bro Cat believes this sentence—

“When all you think about is making money,
you’re actually destined to make very little of it.”

—is worth learning from.
It applies not only to building products,
but also to how we live our lives and conduct ourselves.

And for everyone in the crypto space, this lesson is especially relevant.

From time to time, we should all pause and ask ourselves:

What is the original intention behind what I’m doing right now?

What do you think, my friends?